Life Or Death
by anotherweasley
Summary: Nora's having problems with her first death penatly case. Jack talks to her about it. Chapter 2 up. 8 months later...
1. First

Life or Death  
By: Olivia  
  
"And if you call, I will answer/And if you fall, I'll pick you up/And if you court this disaster/I'll  
point you home."-Barenaked Ladies-"Call and Answer"  
  
"Hey my friend/It seems your eyes are troubled/Care to share your time with me/Would you say  
you're feeling low and so/A good idea would be to get it off your mind...So can pull on  
through/Whatever tears at us/Whatever holds us down/And if nothing can be done/We'll make  
the best of what's around/Turns out not where but who you're with /That really matters/And  
hurst not much when you're around."-Dave Matthews Band-"The Best of What's Around"  
  
  
Nora turned when she heard her office door creaking open.  
  
"I'm sorry to bother you. I knocked but..." Jack began.  
  
Nora waved away his apology. "I'm sorry I didn't hear you. I was deep in thought."  
  
Nora sat down, her back against the New York City skyline she had been studying. There was  
just something hypnotic about the City at night, she thought, all those lights chasing away the  
darkness.  
  
Jack came in and sat down in a chair opposite from Nora.  
  
"How is the case going?" asked Nora.  
  
"Good," said Jack. "Abbie and I just finished prepping Mr. Franklin, our star witness."  
  
Nora just nodded her head.  
  
"The first death penalty case is always the hardest," said Jack sympathetically.  
  
"Excuse me?" asked Nora confused.  
  
"I've found that prosecuting a death penalty case for the first time is always the worst."  
  
Nora tried to smile. "I'm fine."  
  
Jack didn't know what to do. Should he try and talk to Nora? Or should he just accept Nora's  
statement, get up, and walk out of here. Go home, have a scotch, and forget all about this  
conversation. Nora was after all his superior. He didn't want to be stepping on her toes, crossing  
any boundaries. But he could tell that her decision to seek the death penalty against Mr.  
Mancuso was eating her inside.  
  
In the end, Jack didn't have to make that decision. Nora decided to reach out for the life  
preserver Jack had thrown to her.  
  
"How many death penalty cases have you prosecuted?"  
  
"Too many," said Jack rubbing the back of his neck with one hand.  
  
"I guess it doesn't get any easier, the more death penalty cases you prosecute."  
  
"No, it doesn't," Jack admitted. "But if it's any comfort to you, I believe Mancuso is guilty.   
Under New York statues, the death penalty is the proper punishment."  
  
"You and Abbie both argued well for the death penalty to be applied in this case. And New York  
statue does allow for the death penalty in cases like these. But in the end, the decision rests with  
me. Mr. Mancuso is guilty and unremorseful. He committed the crime willfully and  
deliberately. Of these things, I have no doubt in my mind. And yet I find no comfort in my  
decision. I'm not God. Who am I to say who lives and who dies? The State of New York? I  
think God would contest New York's jurisdiction in this matter."  
  
"You're probably right," said Jack smiling sadly. "Abbie's actually my first ADA who is for the  
death penalty."  
  
"That somehow surprises me. I guess I thought a person must be for the death penalty to work  
here in the DA's office," said Nora.  
  
"And yet here you and I are, neither for nor against. The jury is still out and we're stuck here just  
trying to do our jobs the best way we know how within the confines of the law."  
  
Nora nodded sadly at Jack's words.  
  
"You can't blame yourself," Jack continued. "We all make decision each day that affect people's  
lives. You've made a decision and the chips will fall where they may. You just have to let  
everybody else do their jobs now. Maybe a plea bargain will be made, maybe the jury won't  
convict, maybe Mancuso will appeal the death sentence. So many more steps in our judicial  
process must occur before Mancuso faces the possibility of being executed."  
  
Nora absorbed Jack's words. Comfort lay in his words and she needed comfort right now.  
  
They both slowly became conscious that the late hour had gotten even later. Jack and Abbie had  
an early morning in court the next day.  
  
"We'll I'd better go check on Abbie and help her finish up so we can get out of here."  
  
Nora nodded and Jack headed for the door.  
  
As Jack's hand was on the door knob he heard Nora call his name. He turned.  
  
"Thanks for the talk, Jack."  
  
"Any time." Jack paused and Nora waited for him to say what was weighing on his mind.  
  
Finally, Jack said, "If we do get to the point, if Mancuso is executed, don't go there, don't be a  
witness. There's nothing to be gained by it."  
  
And with those parting words of advice, Jack exited Nora's office closing the door softly behind  
him.  
  
Nora just stared at the door for a few minutes after Jack had left. She was suddenly ill at ease.   
And she wondered about this man. She wondered how much she didn't know about him. And  
she wondered what secret pain he hid inside. 


	2. Second

Life or Death 2  
By: Olivia  
  
Eight Months Later  
  
"Am I interrupting?"  
  
Nora tore her gaze away from the window and looked to see Jack standing in her doorway with a pen stuck behind his ear and a notepad stuffed underneath his arm.  
  
"No," said Nora. "C'mon in Jack."  
  
Jack walked into Nora's office and stood solemnly beside her. The two gazed out the window at the people rushing about to work as the early morning sunlight beamed down upon them where it could amidst the skyscrapers, which normally blocked out most of the sun.  
  
"Mr. James Mancuso was executed by lethal injection at 12:01 this morning by order of the State of New York. Another day has come but Mr. Mancuso has already breathed his last breath," said Nora not taking her eyes off the people below.  
  
"You didn't attend the execution," said Jack. It was more of statement rather than a question.  
  
Nora shook her head. She cast him a quick sidelong glance. "On a friend's advice, I decided not to go."  
  
Jack didn't say anything, but inside he was relieved that Nora had taken his advice and had not gone. None of them had. Not Lennie or Ed. Abbie had been thinking about going, but then decided that Mancuso wasn't worth her time. She had other more important cases pressing.  
  
Nora began to speak again. "None of those possibilities you said might happen to prevent Mr. Mancuso from being executed seems to have worked. The end result is that we helped a man to die today."  
  
It was Jack's turn to shake his head. "You can't blame yourself. Mancuso had a choice. He choose to kill people, horribly kill people. He brought this upon himself."  
  
"Did he? I had a choice too. I didn't have to seek the death penalty. I look at all these people walking below us, going about their lives as if nothing has changed. There is one less among them today. I understand it, but I don't."  
  
Jack took a deep breath and collected his thoughts. "They might be one less resident of New York today, but think about if we hadn't caught him, if he had gotten off, or been released down the line. Maybe other people's lives, including those down there, would have been shattered by Mancuso. Our job is to seek justice, to keep people safe. I believe we did that today. He has paid for his crime now. He will never hurt another person again."  
  
Nora looked at Jack absorbing his words. "I take comfort in the fact that Mancuso was guilty and he was unrepentant. But who am I to say that he would never, could never, turn his life around. Maybe he should have been given that chance. A chance to redeem himself."  
  
"There are no easy answers Nora. The first and last person I ever saw executed, I saw with friends of mine, Lennie being one of them. It tore us up, each and our own way, with disastrous results, some of which to this day I have never quite been able to get over. I don't take the death penalty lightly. All we can do is the best we can given the laws of this state. You applied the law correctly. Don't beat yourself up too much over this."  
  
Nora smiled sadly, grateful as always for Jack's comforting pieces of wisdom. She was lucky to have him on her team. Even luckier to have someone she could trust, someone she could let her guard down with before she faced the world as if she never had any doubts about her decisions. "Thanks, Jack."  
  
"Anytime," said Jack smiling.  
  
"Well," said Nora, turning back to the new business at hand. "I supposed you wanted to talk to me about the Hoyt case." Nora sat down at her seat behind her desk.  
  
Jack nodded and sat down across from her.  
  
"So what have we got so far?" asked Nora.  
  
Jack began to explain and the two carried on with crime and punishment. 


End file.
